This study confirms the high prevalence of eye diseases in the elderly. Its main strength is the combination of nutritional, vascular and genetic information, collected over a 7 year period of time before the first eye examination. It may help design future interventional studies, which might be common with other age-related disorders, because of common nutritional factors.

BackgroundSeveral genes implicated in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) metabolism have been reported to be associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Furthermore, HDL transport the two carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, which are highly suspected to play a key-role in the protection against AMD. The objective is to confirm the associations of HDL-related loci with AMD and to assess their associations with plasma lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations.MethodsAlienor study is a prospective population-based study on nutrition and age-related eye diseases performed in 963 elderly residents of Bordeaux, France. AMD was graded according to the international classification, from non-mydriatic colour retinal photographs. Plasma lutein and zeaxanthin were determined by normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The following polymorphisms were studied: rs493258 and rs10468017 (LIPC), rs3764261 (CETP), rs12678919 (LPL) and rs1883025 (ABCA1).ResultsAfter multivariate adjustment, the TT genotype of the LIPC rs493258 variant was significantly associated with a reduced risk for early and late AMD (OR=0.64, 95%CI: 0.41-0.99; p=0.049 and OR=0.26, 95%CI: 0.08-0.85; p=0.03, respectively), and with higher plasma zeaxanthin concentrations (p=0.03), while plasma lipids were not significantly different according to this SNP. Besides, the LPL variant was associated with early AMD (OR=0.67, 95%CI: 0.45-1.00; p=0.05) and both with plasma lipids and plasma lutein (p=0.047). Associations of LIPC rs10468017, CETP and ABCA1 polymorphisms with AMD did not reach statistical significance.ConclusionThese findings suggest that LIPC and LPL genes could both modify the risk for AMD and the metabolism of lutein and zeaxanthin.

Medical-administrative databases are an important source of big data to assess the epidemiology of diseases and interventions, compare drugs, and investigate rare adverse events. We describe the French national health insurance system databases and the Epidemiology and Safety (EPISAFE) collaboration program in ophthalmology and illustrate the paper with recent studies that used the databases to investigate cataract surgery. The Système national d'information inter-régime de l'assurance maladie (SNIIR-AM) is one of the largest databases of medical and administrative data for a general population, covering nearly 65 million people. The SNIIR-AM database links data for all outpatient-reimbursed health expenditures, hospitalization in all 1,546 French private or public healthcare facilities, and date of death. The use of this database provides information at the scale of the entire country, allowing measurement of the impact of changes in practices and new guidelines. Between 2009 and 2012, a total of 2,717,203 eyes in 1,817,865 patients underwent cataract surgery in France, and the incidence of cataract surgery increased from 9.86 to 11.08/1,000 person-years. The 4-year cumulative risk of retinal detachment was 0.99%, and patients <60 years of age were at higher risk of retinal detachment. The incidence of pseudophakic cystoid macular edema was 0.95%. From 2005 to 2014, from data including more than 6 million procedures, the incidence of endophthalmitis after cataract surgery decreased from 0.15 to 0.05%. The EPISAFE collaboration program encompasses the key issues facing ophthalmology, including public health and public policy concerning disease incidence and prevalence, safety and adverse event monitoring, and clinical guidelines.

To analyse and compare the prevalence of epiretinal membranes (ERMs) obtained using either standard retinal colour images or spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in a population-based setting of French elderly subjects. Methods: Six hundred twenty-four subjects of the Alienor cohort aged 75 years or older underwent both colour fundus imaging and SD-OCT examinations. The ERMs were graded from retinal images and SD-OCT macular scans in a masked fashion. On SD-OCT images, the early ERMs, mature contractile ERMs without foveal modifications and mature contractile ERMs with foveal alterations were distinguished. Results: 610 (97.8%) subjects had gradable SD-OCT examinations, and 511 (81.9%) had gradable fundus images in at least one eye. According to colour photographs, 11.6% of participants had definite ERMs. From SD-OCT images, 52.8% of the subjects had early ERMs, 7.4% had mature ERMs without foveal involvement, and 9.7% had mature ERMs with foveal alterations. Regardless of the imaging method used, the ERMs were more often observed in pseudophakic eyes than in phakic eyes. Comparison of ERM assessment using fundus photographs versus SD-OCT images demonstrated that the specificity of retinal colour images was good (>89.3%), whereas the sensitivity remained low even though it increased with ERM severity on SD-OCT images. Conclusions: Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) examinations have high feasibility in this elderly population and are much more sensitive than standard colour images for ERM assessments, especially in the early stages of the disease. Our results further highlight the need to use SD-OCT instead of colour retinal photographs for the classification of ERMs in epidemiological studies.

To report visual and anatomical outcomes and determine predictors of good visual acuity (VA) recovery after macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RD).Methods: Prospective multicentre study including 115 eyes from 115 patients successfully operated on for RD, with assessment of VA and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) macular images at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery.Results: Over the follow-up period, VA significantly improved from median [IQR] 62 [46; 72] ETDRS letters at 1 month to 75 [67; 80] ETDRS letters at 12 months (p < 0.001) with a concomitant decreased number of eyes with any SD-OCT lesions (p < 0.001). The presence of subretinalfluid(SRF)significantlydecreased(p < 0.001),asdidthenumberofphotoreceptor(PR) layer lesions (p = 0.04). At 12 months, lesions in the PR layer and poor VA recovery were significantlyassociatedwithalongertimetosurgery(p = 0.007andp < 0.001,respectively).The rate of patients without PR lesions increased from 40.9% at 1 month to 60.0% at 6 months and 73.9% at 12 months (p < 0.001). The incidence of epiretinal membrane (ERM) significantly increased (p < 0.001), while cystoid macular oedema (CME) remained stable over time. Visual acuity (VA)at 3 months postoperativelywas a good reflection of final VA recovery(p < 0.001). Conclusion:Visual acuity (VA) improved in parallel with the decreasing number of eyes with SD-OCT lesions after macula-off rhegmatogenous RD. A long time to surgery was the only preoperative factor associated with poor VA recovery after retinal detachment surgery.

ABSTRACT.Purpose: To report two cases of choroidal neovascular membrane associated with optic disc drusen which were successfully treated using argon laser photocoagulation. Methods: Choroidal neovascular complications of optic disc drusen were diagnosed in two of our patients, a 36-year-old woman and a 14-year-old girl. In both cases visual acuity was 20/100 in the affected eye. Fundus examination and angiography revealed a choroidal neovascular membrane. Computer tomography identified bilateral calcified drusen of the optic discs. Photocoagulation of neovascular tissues was immediately performed. Results: Visual acuity improved progressively, reaching 20/20 10 months after treatment in one case and 20/30 in the other. No recurrence was observed during follow-up. Conclusion: Early diagnosis and immediate laser photocoagulation of visionthreatening choroidal neovascular membranes associated with optic disc drusen helps stop progression towards the macula and improves longterm visual acuity.

To assess anatomical and functional outcomes after switching from dexamethasone implant (DEXi) to fluocinolone acetonide implant (FAci) in 113 diabetic macular edema eyes, a multicentric retrospective observational study was conducted. Seventy-five eyes (73.5%) were switched 1–8 weeks after their last DEXi. The mean best-corrected visual acuity improved to 59.8 letters at month 4 and remained stable during the follow-up. The mean central macular thickness (CMT) significantly decreased during the follow-up, with a minimum of 320.9 μm at month 3. The baseline CMT was higher in eyes that received the last DEXi >8 weeks versus <8 weeks before the first FAci (p < 0.021). After FAci injection, additional treatments were needed in 37 (32.7%) eyes. A longer diabetes duration (p = 0.009), a longer time between the last DEXi and the first FAci (p = 0.035), and a high baseline CMT (p = 0.003) were risk factors for additional treatments. The mean intraocular pressure was <19 mmHg at all timepoints, with no difference between eyes receiving the last DEXi ≤8 weeks or >8 weeks before the switch. Switching from DEXi to FAci in DME is effective and safe. A short time between the last DEXi and the first FAci reduced CMT fluctuations and the need for early additional treatments.

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